UEFA Cup Betting: Villa and Silva will star for Valencia

Europa League / Nik Wardle / 03 September 2008 / Leave a Comment

AC Milan are the star attraction in this year's UEFA Cup but Nik Wardle reckons Valencia have the best strike partnership in the tournament.

The UEFA Cup proper begins in a couple of weeks and, like last year, there's a stellar name in the competition. Italian giants AC Milan are this year's Bayern Munich but, like Munich, there's no guarantee they'll lift the trophy in Istanbul come May.

Milan are clear favourites at [6.2] but much depends how seriously they take the competition. Qualifying for next season's Champions League via Serie A will be much more important to them so I expect Milan to adopt a squad rotation policy.

Their reserves would be enough to see them through the group stages but not at the business end. Italian sides haven't taken this competition too seriously in recent years but hopefully Fiorentina's run to the semi-finals last season may have kick-started some interest. No Italian side has won the UEFA Cup since Parma in 1999 and I'd be surprised if one was victorious in Istanbul. Sampdoria are [46.0], Napoli, [55.0] and Udinese, who face the tie of the qualifying round against Borussia Dortmund, are out at [70.0].

Tottenham are the current second favourites at [12.0]. The closure of the transfer window sees them with just two recognised strikers eligible for the competition - Darren Bent and Frazier Campbell - and unless they sign a top-level forward, who isn't cup-tied, in January, I think they'll fall short.

Man City's odds have unsurprisingly shortened since Tuesday morning and they now trade at [17.0]. Like Tottenham, I feel they'll need to add a few more players to their squad in January to enable them to lift the first of what they hope will be many trophies under the new money-bags regime.

Aston Villa are decent odds at [22.0]. They lack a bit of European experience but Martin O'Neill has added depth and quality to the squad and they have plenty of firepower in Agbonlahor, Carew, Milner and Young.

Portsmouth are out at [46.0] and, although they should progress through the group stages, I doubt they'll be around at the business end.

Winners in 2006 and 2007, Seville, head the Spanish challenge. They're a good price at [17.5] and are probably more deserving of better odds than Juanda Ramos' new club. They may have lost Daniel Alves over the summer but they still have the likes of Andres Palop, Diego Capel and Fredi Kanoute. Valencia are also at [17.5] and have managed to keep hold of star strikers David Silva and David Villa. I doubt there's a better strike pairing in the UEFA Cup, so Valencia are decent odds.

German sides Schalke (32.0) and Hamburg (36.0) are also worthy of a mention. Schalke were thrashed in the Champions League qualifiers at Athletico Madrid but did get through the group stages of the Champions League last season. Hamburg have had a good start under Martin Jol and are currently joint-top of Bundesliga 1 with Schalke.

Betting on the UEFA Cup at this stage is always muddied by the future Champions League drop outs (I wish that was stopped) so it's often hard to pick a winner. It's rare that a drop out wins the cup, however, and seeing as some of the current top teams have attractive odds, it's worth laying on the likes of Seville, Valencia or dark horses Villa now.